UFC 163 results and photos: Rani Yahya grapples way past Josh Clopton

RIO DE JANEIRO – Josh Clopton may have to take his loss to Rani Yahya as a moral victory.

After a 20-month layoff that included surgery, Clopton had to take on one of the UFC’s best jiu-jitsu practitioners, and do so in Brazil. He survived multiple Yahya submission attempts, but ultimately lost a unanimous decision with a trio of 29-28 scores.

The featherweight bout took place today at UFC 163 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. It streamed on Facebook ahead of additional prelims on FX and the pay-per-view main card.

Yahya kicked early, then put together a good combination. Shortly after that, Yahya went hard after a takedown that Clopton worked just as hard to defend. He mostly did, but Yahya dropped down into guard and went after a heel hook. Clopton then landed a pair of good elbows from his backside, but Yahya transitioned to the top and looked to pass from half-guard. Yahya worked for over a minute from there and briefly got to full mount – but Clopton again recovered.

In the second, again Yahya went after a takedown and got it. And this time, he was able to trap Clopton’s left arm behind his back to easily tee off for a few punches to the head. Shortly thereafter, Yahya again got to mount for a third time. And though the ground-and-pound wasn’t devastating, it was enough to continue to wear Clopton down.

Clopton threw early in the third, knowing he had to get a finish to win. He managed to stay away from another Yahya takedown attempt, and 30 seconds in, he was able to get a nice switch on a takedown attempt, but that merely put him in Yahya’s guard. From there, he wasn’t able to do much damage. With three minutes left, Clopton went back to his feet where he’d have his best shot. There, he landed a knee to the body before Yahya clinched him up. Although Clopton was able to spend some time on top, he wasn’t able to do a ton of damage and Yahya cruised his way to the decision.

“I worked a lot on wrestling – you have to for MMA nowadays,” Yahya said. “The goal is to accept the challenge the UFC will put in front of me. I still have a lot to do to get better, but I’m going to be focused.”

Yahya (19-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) won for the third straight time. Clopton (6-2-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC), fighting for the first time since December 2011, dropped his second straight.

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